


I need you (on the passenger side)

by lovelyendings



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Kittens, She-Ra Fluff Bang, She-Ra Fluff Bang 2020, this got out of hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyendings/pseuds/lovelyendings
Summary: “You aren’t allowed to play ABBA while you’re driving my car,” Mermista says, not even looking up from her phone. Sea Hawk still turns to pout at her before looking back at the road, which gets her to explain. “You get too into it and start doing the routine you and Bow have.”Sea Hawk continues to pout. “But what’s a road trip without ABBA?”———Sea Hawk and Mermista go on a road trip
Relationships: Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 69





	I need you (on the passenger side)

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is for the She-Ra fluffbang. It just, got out of hand. REALLY out of hand. This entire fic spawned because of the playlist in Zack’s car and a conversation with him about Sea Hawk being the kind of person to blast ABBA. And here we are 10k later. 
> 
> Anyway the incredible shinpoochy made some gorgeous art. Here’s the link to her beautiful art: https://shinpoochy.tumblr.com/post/624914026872389632/my-piece-for-the-she-ra-fluff-bang-based-off-of
> 
> And as always thanks to Hannah and Zack for betaing and putting up with my random ramblings about my fics at all hours. Title is from Yoko Ono by Moby Rich.
> 
> Update: Here's Mermista's Secret Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3XoTcVr2c260LpuC85FhNo?si=DXhpO7sORm2TmKwTU9FwzQ

It’s 6 am when Sea Hawk’s phone starts buzzing. Which is odd because his do not disturb is set to only allow calls from 3 people. Mermista is almost never up early, Scorpia was out on a date with Perfuma the night before so she should still be over there, and Bow was with Glimmer. He rolls over to check which one of them it is, and squints at his phone until he can tell that it says Mermista.

“My sweet Mermista,” Sea Hawk yawns into the phone, “why are you calling me this early?”

“I need you to drive to Salineas with me.”

“Anything for you, my darling,” Sea Hawk pauses to rub his eyes, “but my car is in the shop, and I’ll have to get someone to watch Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins.”

Mermista sighs. “I’ll let you drive my van.” 

“Thank you my d-” Sea Hawk begins before he gets cut off.

“I’ll pick you up in 30 mins. You better be ready to go then,” Mermista says before hanging up.

Sea Hawk rubs at his eyes before rolling out of his bed. Salineas is about a 2 day drive from Bright Moon University, he calculates in his head. So it’ll be approximately a 5 day trip, possibly 6 or 7 if they end up spending more than one day there. He grabs a duffle bag and starts packing clothing in it. 

He’s got 2 weeks until his job running camps at the University starts, and the animal shelter has been ok on volunteers since summer started, so he doesn’t have any upcoming shifts there. Which means he really does only have to worry about finding someone to feed Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins. After grabbing the last shirt he wants, Sea Hawk pops his back, grabs his phone charger and takes the bag into the bathroom to grab his toiletries. 

After throwing that all in the bag he’s awake enough to realize that grabbing snacks would be smart, which happens to bring him to the stack of cds he pulled out of his car before he took it to the shop. He decides to throw those in the bag as well.

The majority of his remaining time til Mermista gets there is just spent making sure that Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins is still inside the apartment. He happens to be quite the little escape artist, since Sea Hawk managed to lure him in from the streets while drunk. But he always comes back. After 15 minutes of searching, Sea Hawk manages to find him curled up in the bathtub.

Sea Hawk checks his watch before sitting down on the edge of the tub to pet him. Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins mewls quietly, but doesn’t move. 

“I’m gonna be gone for a few days, but I’ll have someone come and feed you, ok?”

Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins rolls onto his 3 legs and stands up, headbutting Sea Hawk’s hand.

“Ok, I’ll see you later buddy.” Sea Hawk scritches the orange fur one more time before heading outside.

\---

Sea Hawk is texting Catra for the billionth time asking her to watch Mr. Fluffy Pumpkins when he sees a Volkswagen van pull up. As he gets up off the bottom step Mermista parks the teal van, and gets out. 

“You’re driving first,” she says as she chucks the keys at him. “There’s a coffee for you in the back cup holder.”

“You are a goddess,” Sea Hawk calls as he catches the keys, and doesn’t fumble them at all, thank you very much.

Mermista rolls her eyes, and by the time Sea Hawk has grabbed his bag and makes it to the van, Mermista is situated in the passenger seat with her feet up on the dash. He opens the door to the backseat and throws the bags in before walking back to the driver’s seat. Before he can plug his phone into the Aux, Mermista grabs his wrist. “Nothing too loud and cheery this early.” 

Sea Hawk salutes her, before setting up his driving playlist at a spot he knows Mermista will be able to handle, then pulls away. 

“ADVENTURE!”

Mermista groans. “It’s too early for adventure,” she says as she pulls down her sunglasses. 

\---

Sea hawk has been driving for about half an hour before he realizes that he fucked up. When he set the playlist to this section, he forgot that last week while they were drinking to this playlist, Glimmer stole his phone. And instead of queuing the songs that she wanted, she added them into the playlist, and moved them to random spots on the playlist. Not just did he forget that, but he also had the volume turned up because this section of the playlist was more quiet. So when the intro to ‘Never gonna give you up’ starts playing, it’s much louder than it’s supposed to be. 

It also happens to wake Mermista up from her nap, as he hears the clatter of sunglasses hitting the floor followed by, “SEA HAWK!”

He dives for the volume knob and manages to turn it down to a much quieter level. “Good morning gorgeous, didn’t realize that was there. You can try to go back to sleep.”

Mermista just glares at him before putting her sunglasses back on. “No, I think I’m actually awake now.” She reaches over and grabs his phone from the holder on the dash, and proceeds to skip the song. “I’m in control of the music now though.”

Sea Hawk gives her a 2 finger salute and goes back to focusing on the road.

\---

It’s about an hour into the drive before Sea Hawk manages to get the reason for the trip. After the incident with ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ Mermista had turned his music down, so when she randomly starts talking, it’s easy to hear her.

“My aunt texted me and asked me if there was anything I wanted of my grandmother’s.” Sea Hawk glances over at her, but she’s staring out the window, so he can’t quite gauge her exact emotional state. He hums in acknowledgement and waits for Mermista to continue. It takes about a minute before she starts talking again. “She said my mom already pulled some of the things she knew I wanted, but she wanted me there to go through the rest of the stuff with them. So I called my mom and she suggested I come down and help them now as they go through it.” 

“Have they decided if they’re selling the house yet or…” Sea Hawk asks, purposefully letting the question trail off. He knows how hard losing her grandma has been on Mermista, and everyone in the family has been struggling to figure out what to do with the house. Hence the whole situation being dragged out for months.

Mermista shrugs. “They’re still debating selling it and just getting it over with, versus renting it out for people coming to the beach. But since summer season is about to pick up, they need to decide soon.” 

Mermista doesn’t say anything else. She just turns the music back up. Right then of course ‘Hit me one more time’ by Britney Spears comes on, which at least breaks the serious mood, which Sea Hawk is thankful for. He’s glad Mermista asked him to come along, so he can distract her and break the tension when things get too rough.

\---

A little while later Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) starts playing, but as quickly as Sea Hawk recognizes the song Mermista changes it. Sea Hawk turns to look at Mermista so she can see how affronted he is. “Why did you change it?”

“You aren’t allowed to play ABBA while you’re driving my car,” Mermista says, not even looking up from her phone. Sea Hawk still turns to pout at her before looking back at the road, which gets her to explain. “You get too into it and start doing the routine you and Bow have.” 

Sea Hawk continues to pout. “But what’s a road trip without ABBA?”

“I didn’t say you can’t play it at all, just not while you’re driving.” Sea Hawk shrugs and accepts it. Besides, he knows they’ll be switching drivers soon enough.

\---

They switch drivers right after they stop for lunch. The second Mermista pulls out of the parking lot, Sea Hawk has ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ playing and a bunch of ABBA songs queued. 

Mermista shakes her head at him, but he sees her moving her shoulders to the beat. He smiles before going to check if Catra ever responded to him. He checks to find that it says she read the messages several hours ago and never responded, before switching to his conversation with Bow. Bow of course responds within seconds that ‘of course he’ll watch Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins and to drive safe’. Sea Hawk closes his phone, and looks up to see Mermista mouthing along to the lyrics, which makes him smile harder.

\---

Around 9pm Sea Hawk decides that switching to a quieter playlist is probably smart, but by 10pm he regrets it. This isn’t the first time he’s done this drive with Mermista, which means he knows how Mermista likes to space out the drive. If they get up early and drive til midnight or 1am, they can knock out over half the drive on the first night. Which means that the next day they’ll make it to Salineas with time to still surf. 

The first yawn happens just before they switch drivers at a gas station. Getting up and moving around manages to starve off his exhaustion for a little bit. But since he’s not driving anymore it gets harder to stay awake. 

The second and third yawns happen in quick succession which cause Mermista to glare at him. So Sea Hawk decides that the best way to stay awake is restarting the alphabet game. Mermista rolls her eyes as he enthusiastically calls every letter, but every once in a while she’ll chime in when she spots a letter he hasn’t. 

The fourth yawn happens around the letter q. Mermista sighs and side eyes him. “You can go to sleep if you want to.”

Sea Hawk shakes his head. “Nope you know the rules. No sleeping after 10 unless the car is parked.”

Mermista groans. “I can drink an energy drink and be fine with you asleep.” Mermista glances over at him with a smirk. “Besides I’m not the reason we have that rule.”

Sea Hawk shook his head. “I’m fine, I can stay awake.”

“That’s what you said then, and then I woke up in a ditch on the side of the road.”

“But we were fine,” Sea Hawk singsongs back, “and so was my car.”

Mermista shakes her head and mutters what sounds like “Miraculously” to herself. Sea Hawk decides to go back to looking out the window. They’ve safely completed this trip enough times since then that they can joke about that time, but he still feels bad.

Fifteen minutes later when Sea Hawk yawns for the fifth time, Mermista pulls off the highway. He starts to protest, “It’s fine, I can drink an energy drink-”, but Mermista shakes her head.

“Nah, I’m getting tired too,” she says heading for a store parking lot.

He glances at the clock. “It’s barely 11, are you sure?”

“Yeah, we started earlier than normal, so we’ll be fine tomorrow.” Sea Hawk stares at her with a raised eyebrow. Mermista puts the car in park and turns it off before turning to face him. She rolls her eyes before unbuckling and climbing to the back. “Come on, we gotta get the van set up for the night.”

Sea Hawk blinks a few times and rubs at his eyes before reaching for the sunshade and getting it set up. By the time he has it covering the windshield, Mermista is most of the way done with setting up the bed, so he starts digging in his bag for a shirt. After a minute of searching, he manages to find a tank top that says ‘Property of Salineas High Swim Team’ and calls it good.

Sea Hawk tucks his bag back under his seat and walks to the back of the van where the bed has been unrolled. Mermista is currently flopped across the bed, so Sea Hawk takes the opportunity to change shirts and ditch his pants. When he finishes he plops on the edge of the bed. “You can change now.” 

Mermista groans into her pillow before rolling over and sitting up. She scoots forward to where Sea Hawk is before standing up and grabbing her bag to dig through. Sea Hawk takes the opportunity to get comfy on the right side of the bed while giving Mermista the privacy to change. He can spend a few minutes scrolling on his phone. 

After a few minutes the van’s inside light turns off and he feels the bed dip and turns his head to see Mermista crawling into bed. Sea Hawk starts to roll over to cuddle her, but her right leg comes up to hook around him and keep him in place. Mermista wraps an arm around his waist and leans her head against his back. “I forgot you grabbed that shirt.” 

Sea Hawk shrugs. “I don’t actually remember when I grabbed it.” He lets his hand travel to her leg and starts to trace the mermaid on her thigh. Mermista reaches up to scratch his head at that. “What time do you want to get up?”

He feels Mermista shrug against him before she actually speaks. “Around 8ish, I guess. If we get on the road by 8:30 that should get us in around 4ish, which will definitely give us time to surf.”

Sea Hawk hums his assent as he sets his alarm and then proceeds to turn off his phone. He places it on the side panel of the car before lifting Mermista’s leg so he can roll over. He leans in to kiss her. She obliges him for a minute, before pulling away. “You’re driving in the morning, so you have to get to sleep.”

Sea Hawk fakes a salute, “Yes Captain.” Mermista rolls her eyes and playfully smacks him. He leans in to peck her lips one more time. “Good night,” he mummers as he rolls back to face the window. 

“Good night,” Mermista mummers back before rolling over. She shifts around for a few moments before settling in. Sea Hawk sighs and lets himself give in to his exhaustion. 

\---

Sea Hawk’s alarm song may be one of the most annoying songs on his phone (Big Enough), but that doesn’t mean it wakes up Mermista. He lays there for a few moments enjoying the quiet and stillness before forcing himself up from the bed. He takes a minute to dig for his baby wipes, and quickly wipes down before changing into a pair of shorts, knowing his shirt is clean enough to wear until later. 

The best part of road trips in the van in Sea Hawk’s opinion (or one of the best parts) is waking up Mermista. She happens to not only be a very heavy sleeper, but she also takes a while to fully wake up. The only way Sea Hawk has managed to wake her up yet has been blasting ridiculous songs until her annoyance forces her awake. So he smiles as he sets his speaker all the way up and starts blaring his mermista wake up playlist. Mermista manages to sleep through the gummy bear song, but starts to stir about halfway through the hamster dance. By the time the chicken dance has started Mermista is groaning and begging him to shut it off. Finally she forces herself out of the bed and turns off the phone for herself. 

“Good morning gorgeous,” Sea Hawk sing-songs as he gathers together some food for breakfast. 

“You are an asshole,” she says as she pushes past him to go collapse into the passenger seat.

“You and I both know you don’t actually mean that,” Sea Hawk says as he leans forward to give her a kiss. Mermista makes some grumbling noises at him, but kisses him without complaint. Sea Hawk passes her a protein bar, which she grabs before cocoons herself in her blanket so all Sea Hawk can see is her sunglasses and a puff of blue hair in a bun.

Sea Hawk smiles to himself before grabbing his own protein bar and a can of coffee. Mornings are definitely a good part of their road trips.

\---

“Why did you change it? ‘Baby’ still slaps.” 

Mermista turns to glare at him. “Baby has never slapped, ever. And you aren’t ever allowed to play Justin Beiber in this car.”

\---

It’s almost exactly 4 when they pull into Mermista’s parent’s house. Mermista takes a moment after parking in the driveway to sigh and stare at the garage door before turning to look at him. “We’re staying at my grandma’s house, I just need to grab my board and the key to the house.” Sea Hawk nods. 

“You want me to come in and distract your mom or should I stay in the car?”

Mermista stares at the garage door as she thinks. “If you’re out here I can use you as an excuse to get out of there fast,” she finally says after a minute. She sighs and reaches up for the garage door opener. “I’m going in, I’ll be back out as soon as I can.” She says before climbing out of the car.

Sea Hawk just props up his feet on the dashboard and chills there. It’s a perfect temperature outside, and there’s a slight breeze blowing which feels perfect with the windows rolled down. Sea Hawk just lets himself enjoy it until Mermista comes back outside groaning. But she still goes and grabs her board and brings it over to the car, which is a good enough sign for Sea Hawk.

After she hooks her board to the top of the van, she gets back in and just drops her head onto the top of the steering wheel. Sea Hawk raises an eyebrow. “You ok, dearest?”

“The entire family is coming to the house tomorrow,” Mermista groans out. “They want to get the house packed up as soon as possible since it’s prime rental season.” 

“Well, that’s something we can handle after the beach. You and I both know surfing will make you feel better.” 

Mermista sighs, lifts her head, and then turns on the car. Sea Hawk smiles, and keeps his feet propped up on the dash.

\---

Sea Hawk smells the beach before he can see it. When they pull into the parking lot for the area Mermista likes to surf at Sea Hawk sighs (and he swears he hears Mermista sigh too.)

He turns to see Mermista smiling at the beach, before she climbs to the back to change into her wetsuit. Sea Hawk bends down to pull his bag into his lap, to dig for his sunscreen, book and towel. The beach is one of Mermista’s favorite places to be, and so it’s also one of Sea Hawk’s favorite places to be with her. 

There’s been a few trips to the beach (both here in Salineas, and back in Bright Moon) where Mermista has spent time teaching him how to surf, but most of the time when they go to the beach, he lays on the sand and enjoys the scenery, including Mermista surfing in the distance.

By the time Sea Hawk has found all three items, Mermista is changed and already outside the van, and seems to be in the process of getting her board down. Sea Hawk gets out of the van, but stands off to the side. The only thing Mermista considers to be more of her baby than the van (which she painstakingly refurbished to how she wanted it), is her surfboards. And Sea Hawk can tell that she’s already in what he likes to refer to as ‘Mermaid Mode’. 

Mermista unlatches the last hook, and carefully carries her board down before turning to meet Sea Hawk’s eyes. He smiles, picks up her bag and they head for the shore. They pass a few surfers on the way in that Sea Hawk recognizes from previous trips and from watching Mermista’s competitions, but he doesn’t wave unless Mermista nods at them. 

Once they make it to the beach, Sea Hawk passes Mermista’s bag back to her, and starts setting up both of their towels. By the time he has it set up just right, Mermista has already started the process of waxing her board. So Sea Hawk takes off his shirt and starts sunscreening. He sees ‘Mermaid Mode’ break for just a moment as she stares at him with a smile, before she goes back to her board. Eventually Mermista finishes, leans down, gives him a kiss and heads for the water.

Sea Hawk smiles as he watches her paddle out. Mermista has been competitively surfing longer than he’s known her (she’s known as Mermista ‘The Mermaid’ Dhawan, and if you asked her how she is, she would tell you she’s good). And as much as he loves the beach, he loves getting to see her in her element more. So he keeps an eye on the line up and pays attention when it’s her turn to catch a wave.

After a while, he decides to focus on his book, so when a shadow with a surfboard blocks his sunlight, he assumes it’s Mermista. He’s surprised to instead see a buff shirtless dude standing in front of him.

“Hi.” The dude says flashing him a smile, and pushing his blonde hair out of his face. “I’m Falcon.”

“I’m Sea Hawk,” he says with a smile, confused on why this guy is talking to him.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” Falcon says, trailing off to make it a question.

“I’m here visiting,” Sea Hawk replies just as brightly.

“Well, how long are you gonna be in town, because I’d love to show you around,” Falcon says with a hungry smile, and that’s when it clicks.

“Oh, that’s alright, I’m in town with -” Sea Hawk starts before he gets interrupted.

“Hi, Falcon.” Falcon turns towards the voices and Sea Hawk sees Mermista coming up the beach. 

“Hi, Mermista,” Falcon says, obviously annoyed at the interruption. “I didn’t know you were back.”

“Yeah, I just got in early. Just came back for a quick visit.” She smirks as she walks past him towards Sea Hawk. “I see you’ve met Sea Hawk,” she says, before leaning down to kiss him. When Mermista pulls away she’s smirking, and Sea Hawk smiles as he tries to keep from laughing. It’s odd to see Mermista being territorial.

Sea Hawk turns back to see Falcon looking dejected. “Yeah I did. I think I’m gonna head back out there,” He says with a strained smile. “Nice meeting you, Sea Hawk. Mermista.”

Sea Hawk waits until Falcon is out of earshot before he starts laughing. Mermista rolls her eyes. “Of course the asshole would come up to you.”

“And what does that mean?” Sea Hawk asks, trying to pry the meaning out of her. 

Mermista groans before flopping face first onto her towel. She mutters something into the sand.

“I couldn’t hear you,” Sea Hawk teases, leaning in and pushing his sunglasses up.

Mermista lifts her head just slightly. “I said that you’re sitting out here shirtless, in booty shorts with that mustache or whatever.”

“And?” Sea Hawk goads.

“And you look good, I guess,” Mermista says, getting quieter as she says it. 

“I’m so flattered my dear,” Sea Hawk says with a smile “because, you’re right, I do.” He hears Mermista quietly laugh into the towel and smiles even wider. He flicks his sunglasses back down as he lays back on his towel, before closing his eyes. Eventually they’ll have to get up and go deal with the stuff at the house. But for now he’s content here.

\---

They’ve been back at the house sorting for hours before Sea Hawk finally flops face first on the ground and groans. At this point he’s modeled every article of clothing in the house, they’ve sorted all the pictures, and packed up the majority of the kitchen. And even though Sea Hawk knew what he was getting into when he agreed that he and Mermista could pack up the majority of the house on their own, he’s so sore. 

Mermista lightly nudges him with her foot. “You good?”

“I am one with the floor. I’m never moving again.”

“So you’re sore?” 

“Yeeeeesssss,” Sea Hawk groans out, rolling over to look up slightly at Mermista. 

She makes a face before obviously coming to a realization. “There’s a hot tub in the backyard. We could go see if it’s on.”

Sea Hawk pops up before she’s even done with her sentence and heads for the back door. He hears Mermista chuckle as she follows behind him. He slides open the door, but waits by it until Mermista is outside to shut it.

He follows behind Mermista to the hot tub where she stops to check the settings on the outside, before lifting the cover to check that what she sees is correct. She turns back to look at him confused. “It looks like whoever was over last left the heater on. So you’re good to use it.”

Sea Hawk is striping down to his briefs before Mermista can say another word.

“Come on,” Sea Hawk says hopping into the water, “It’ll make you feel better too.”

Mermista sighs, before lifting her shirt over her head and laying it on the bench. Sea Hawk finds himself staring at her underboob tattoo, so entranced by how it ripples as she steps out of her shorts that he’s honestly surprised when she gets into the hot tub. 

Mermista immediately stretches out, putting her legs on his lap and lifting her hands above her head to stretch, causing Sea Hawk to get distracted by the tattoo again. She readjusts to get comfy before leaning back to stare at the stars. 

They sit there in silence for a few minutes before Mermista sighs. “Alright, you were right, this does feel amazing.” Sea Hawk smirks at the sky.

“Was I?” Sea Hawk asks. 

“Don’t be so smug about it,” Mermista says with a smirk as she moves her legs off of his lap. 

“Why not?” Sea Hawk asks as she climbs onto his lap.

“Cause then I won’t do this,” Mermista says before letting her legs bracket his, using a finger to lift his head to where she wants it and capturing his lips. 

Sea Hawk’s hands immediately go to Mermista’s hair, before realizing her hair is still in a ponytail. He attempts to pull out the scrunchie, but tugs a little too hard causing Mermista to pull away and take it out herself before recapturing his lips. Sea Hawk lets his hands go back to her hair, running up and down, from the tips, which were dripping warm water back into the pool, up, up until he hits dry hair, that still feels the same as it did when he ran his hands through it on the beach. That's still that unique texture that only dried salt water can cause. That texture that Sea Hawk always associates with trips in the camper, surfing, Salineas and Mermista. And then back down. As Mermista’s lips still move against his. As one of her hands threads itself in his hair and the other grips the back of his neck. 

He lets his hands go back down her hair, slide over her shoulders and down her back before pulling her in closer to him. Mermista pulls back for a moment, giving Sea Hawk the opportunity to appreciate her. How beautiful she looks in the moonlight, her hair down, breathing heavily, then she’s leaning back in. Her lips are back on his, and then she’s nibbling on his lip. He opens his mouth obligingly and lets her slip her tongue in. They stay like that for a while, until eventually she pulls back again, this time leaning forward to hook her head on his left shoulder. Sea Hawk lets her get comfy before wrapping his arms around her, holding her close. He tilts his head back to look at the stars, and lets himself enjoy holding her.

“A year from now everything will be so different,” Mermista says after a few minutes, readjusting her head on Sea Hawk’s shoulder so she’s now looking off to the left. 

“What do you mean?” Sea Hawk asks, looking back from the stars to place a kiss on her head.

He feels her face contort for a second before she answers. “Well, obviously Spinny and Netossa will still be in Bright Moon, and so will Adora and Catra. Perfuma and Scorpia are gonna end up in either Plumeria or the Fright Zone. Glimmer is still figuring out where she wants to go to grad school, and Bow will follow her wherever she goes. There’s so many places trying to snatch up Entrapta. Hopefully I’ll be back here.” Mermista pauses for a moment and pulls herself back up to sitting, forcing him to let go, before readjusting to look at him. “But what about you?”

Suddenly Sea Hawk is aware of how close Mermista is. “What about me?”

Mermista rolls her eyes in a way that Sea Hawk knows is fond. “What’s your plan for after graduation?” Mermista asks leaning in even closer. 

And part of Sea Hawk wants to bring up the fact that he’s been looking at apartments near the aquarium. That he’s been looking at job postings in Salineas. That if Mermista wants him here, he’ll be here. But something stops him. Because even though Mermista knows how much he loves her, sometimes he has to ease her into the level that he’s feeling. So he shrugs. “You know me. I’m a free spirit.” He pauses to phrase the next part correctly. “I’ll be wherever you need me to be.”

Mermista makes a face and starts to open her mouth, before obviously changing her mind and shutting it. Sea Hawk debates trying to push her on it, but before he can make up his mind she’s pushing herself up and climbing out of the hot tub. Sea Hawk waits until he hears Mermista go inside before lowering himself farther into the tub and frustratedly sighing out bubbles.

\---

Sea Hawk debates bringing back up the conversation, but by the time he comes inside, Mermista is in the shower. So Sea Hawk straightens up a few more things in the living room and gets it ready for the massive amount of family that will descend on them tomorrow. From what Mermista told him while they were packing, her family is either going to sell the house, or rent it until Mermista graduates and inevitably ends up working at the aquarium. Which means the entire family is coming over to finish packing, and then debate on the fate of the house.

He waits until he hears Mermista get out of the shower to head upstairs with his backpack to finally shower and go through his nightly skincare routine. So by the time he gets out of the bathroom, Mermista is curled up in bed in the room she showed him earlier, scrolling on her phone. Sea Hawk crawls into his side of the bed, cuddles up behind her and throws a leg around her. Mermista pauses for a moment, lets out a groan, but doesn’t make an effort to move. 

Sea Hawk waits a few minutes before asking a question. “So what’s the plan for tomorrow?”

Mermista shuts off her phone and lightly taps his leg. Sea Hawk obligingly lifts his leg so that Mermista can roll over to face him. Once she’s rolled, he lowers his leg back down to rest over her legs again. “Tomorrow, my entire family will come over to help pack.” She sighs and rolls onto her back this time, Sea Hawk’s leg following her down without an issue. “Which will be exhausting.” She stares at the ceiling thinking for a moment, before turning her head back to look at Sea Hawk. “And then depending on how much progress we make tomorrow we’ll either leave the next day, or stay one more day to help some more.”

“Do you want me helping with the packing, or should I prepare for entertaining your cousins?”

Mermista smirks at him. “You and I both know that the second my cousins see you, you won’t be able to escape them.”

Sea Hawk smiles at her. “Good thing I like your cousins.” He leans in, kisses her nose, before rolling over. “Good night.”

Mermista lays there for a moment, before Sea Hawk feels her roll back over. “Good night.”

\---

When Sea Hawk wakes up the next morning, it’s to a delicious smell coming from the kitchen, which means-

“The horde has descended upon us,” Mermista mutters into his chest, which she appears to have rolled into to hide from the light coming from the window, and the sounds of her family downstairs.

“Your family isn’t that bad,” Sea Hawk says, before placing a kiss on her head. “I’m gonna go down there and get some food.” Mermista groans into his chest, but as he gets up she seems to decide that his pillow will block the light and sound more, and shoves her head under it.

Sea Hawk makes his way down the stairs to find Mermista’s aunt in the kitchen making food.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Sea Hawk says as he heads into the kitchen and takes a seat at the tiny kitchen table.

“Good morning Sea Hawk,” Mermista’s Aunt Darya calls over her shoulder. “And I thought I told you to call me Darya.”

“Did Trent come over with you?”

“No, he spent the night with Brook and Pearl. Nerida and Caspian are gonna bring all of them over later. Mira and Arno are on their way over though, and Destan is going through boxes in the garage.”

“Well, I’ll help inside until they bring the kids over, and then I can keep them entertained outside.”

“I’m sure the three of them will be excited to see you,” she says, bringing food over to the table. “They’re always asking when the next time they can see Captain Sea Hawk is.” She chuckles at that. “So what are your plans now that it’s summer?”

“Well, I’m working for the university again this summer as a part of their summer programs, so I’ll be helping run camps all summer,” Sea Hawk says before taking a bite. “Which I love doing. This is my third summer working there and it’s always something I enjoy.”

“Well, based on how you are with Trent, Brook, and Pearl I’m sure you’re great at it. What about your friends? We haven’t seen them since they came to visit in September, what are they up to?” Sea Hawk vaguely hears a door open and shut behind him, but he’s so focused on his food and the conversation that he doesn’t look. 

“Well Entrapta, Scorpia and Bow all landed internships with some big tech company this summer, so they’re staying busy with those,” he replies before taking another bite. “Glimmer landed an internship with a law office that does a lot of work in the area she’s interested in, so she’s excited. Adora is also working at the school, helping coordinate the summer athletics camps, which she’s over the moon about.” 

“She’s the one that wants to be a gym teacher right?” Sea Hawk hears from behind him. He turns to see Mermista’s mom Mira entering the kitchen. 

“Yep, so she’s excited to spend all summer working with kids doing sports. And good morning Mira, it’s lovely to see you.” 

Mira smiles and gives him a half hug. “I take it that Mermista is still asleep?” she asks with slight disdain. 

“Yeah, I figured she should sleep a little longer since we spent so much time driving and packing yesterday,” Sea Hawk says, trying his best to keep an argument from happening this early between the two. 

Mira sighs before sitting down at the table. “Well, tell us more about what your friends are up to.”

“Well Catra-“

\---

Sea Hawk keeps the conversation going for almost half an hour before Mermista stumbles downstairs, just like Sea Hawk figures she would. He also keeps Mira and Darya distracted with his elaborate retellings of some of their latest adventures, to allow Mermista to eat in peace. She shoots him a grateful look when she places the plate in the sink. 

From there they spend the rest of the morning going through everything on the 1st floor that Sea Hawk and Mermista didn’t pack up the night before. They finish around noon, and not 15 minutes later Caspian and Nerida arrive with both lunch and the children. 

“CAPTAIN SEA HAWK!!!!” Sea Hawk manages to turn just in time to see the kids as they tackle-hug him. 

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite crew!”

“Are we going to go on an adventure?” Pearl asks, staring up at him.

“Of course we will, but first,” he pauses then points dramatically towards the kitchen. “LUNCH!”

He can hear Mira, Nerida, and Darya whispering and laughing behind him. He turns to see them pointedly looking at Mermista who looks incredibly annoyed by the conversation, but then Brook is grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the kitchen.

He convinces the children that they should eat outside and after gathering up the trash, gets them going on an adventure. 

One thing leads to another, and before he knows it the paper plates and napkins are on fire in the fire pit in the backyard.

“SEA HAWK!” He turns to look up to the second floor where Mermista is leaning out the window. “Is that on fire?”

“NOooo!” he calls back, before turning back to the kids. “Put it out, put it out!” he whisper-yells to the kids, who giggle and run for the water hose. He turns back to Mermista at the window, “Nothing to worry about here,” he calls back. He hears the kids giggle behind him. 

Mermista shakes her head, but he can see the beginnings of a fond smile on her face, since she’s obviously able to tell that he has the fire under control, considering it is in the fire pit. “Just don’t burn anything down.”

“Of course we won’t.” He hears laughter behind him and turns to see Brook holding the hose, and Trent and Pearl struggling with the faucet. “I should probably help my crew,” He calls before rushing to the wall and turning the faucet for them. He hears excited screaming and turns to see Brook yelling as he sprays water everywhere.

He smiles up sweetly at Mermista, who just shakes her head and closes the window. He turns back to his crew. “Now, who wants to look for buried treasure?” He smiles at the 3 wide eyed grins that stare back at him.

\---

Eventually the adults reach a stopping point inside and order some food to the house for dinner. Brook, Pearl and Trent sit at the kitchen table, while the rest of the adults end up at the big table in the other room. Sea Hawk grabs his food from the kitchen before pausing and looking between the two tables. Mermista comes up next to him.

“Which table should I eat at?” Sea Hawk asks, glancing between the empty seat left at each table. 

“I can handle the conversation about what happens to the house alone if you don’t want to be there,” Mermista responds quietly, obviously pretending like it doesn’t affect her.

But Sea Hawk trusts her to know her own needs, so he nods and heads to the kid’s table much to their excitement. He hears Mermista say something about him figuring that the adults would appreciate him distracting the kids while they discuss the fate of the house. 

So he spends the next hour listening to the kids as they tell him about their friends, school and show him Youtube videos on his phone. He’s just glad he charged his phone before dinner with how many videos they end up watching. 

Eventually the conversation in the other room ends and Darya tells the kids to say good night to Sea Hawk so they can go. All three kids give him hugs, and then he seeks out Mermista in the living room.

“So?” he asks her quietly.

“They’ve decided to rent until I graduate, so the packing up we did today should just about handle it all,” she says not looking up from her phone. “Their plan for tomorrow is to just load up the stuff that we sorted today and take it to the various houses, so we’re good to head out tomorrow morning.” 

Sea Hawk nods, but he can tell by the way Mira and Arno are looking at them, they want to talk to her, so he places a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m gonna go shower since I’m still sweaty and gross from running outside earlier.”

Mermista wrinkles her nose. “You need it.”

“You still love me when I’m stinky,” Sea Hawk sing-songs back. Mermista rolls her eyes at him, but he can tell she’s fighting a smile, so he considers that a mission accomplished.

After his shower, he decides to just head straight for the room they’re staying in, instead of downstairs. When he makes it to the bedroom he sees just how much progress they made today. The room went from looking like a guest room at your grandma’s house that she mainly uses for storage, to a room in a rental property. But despite how impressed he is, he’s more tired, so he flops face first onto the bed. Sea Hawk leans over to plug in his phone, before realizing his charger is still in the living room. He’s just about to go get it when Mermista flops onto the bed. Sea Hawk decides it’s something he can deal with in the morning as Mermista wraps her arms around him...

\---

The next morning, Mermista’s family is over at the house by the time they’re ready to depart, so they get to say their goodbyes then. Sea Hawk and Mermista both get hugs upon hugs before they climb into the van. Mermista waits until they turn the corner to pull her blanket up and pass out. Sea Hawk just plays his music at a quiet level, fine with driving while Mermista naps.

After about two hours she wakes up and takes control of the music. About another hour after that, Sea Hawk realizes they need gas and after that Mermista insists on driving, which he isn’t going to complain about. 

So when he grabs his phone from the aux to check his messages, it’s the first chance he really has gotten to all morning. A few messages were sent in the group chat, Scorpia sent him a description of the date her and Perfuma went on last night, and Bow sent him a selfie with Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins. He’s about to respond to Scorpia when his phone warns him that it’s battery is low, and then proceeds to shut down.

So he starts digging in his bag, until he realizes that his phone charger is still plugged into the wall at the house. And that Mermista’s phone uses a different type of charger. He groans at the realization.

Mermista glances over before asking, “What happened?”

“My phone died and I left my charger at the house.” 

“I’d say we could use mine for music, but it’s in the far back. Do we need to stop to buy you a charger?” 

Sea Hawk shakes his head. “I actually threw some old CDs in my bag. I have no clue what’s on them, so that could be fun. And I can wait til we stop for dinner or something.”

“CD Russian Roulette,” Mermista deadpans. “I almost wish I had the gun instead.” She pauses like she’s waiting for him to do something. “Well what are you waiting for? Stick one in.”

“Ok,” Sea Hawk says as he digs through his backpack until he pulls one out. “This first one says, To: Sea Hawk From: Catra, Enjoy.”

“So this will be entertaining,” Mermista says as he puts in the cd.

They sit there as the CD player thinks, and then suddenly it starts blasting ‘Cotton Eye Joe’. Mermista starts laughing, while Sea Hawk starts singing along while being as ridiculous as possible. Eventually the song ends. They sit there while the CD player thinks, then suddenly ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ starts blasting again. 

Mermista raises an eyebrow as she glances at him. “Is it just one track?”

Sea Hawk stares at the CD player. “No, it says track 2/12.” 

Sea Hawk presses the skip button, waits, and then ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ starts again. Mermista starts to laugh incredulously. So Sea Hawk presses the skip button again, to the same result. 

“Did she give you a CD with just ‘Cotton Eye Joe’?” Mermista asks. 

Sea Hawk shrugs as he laughs. “Might as well check all the tracks.”

So he continues to press skip. And ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ keeps starting over. And then they hit track 9. And after the pause of the cd player thinking, instead the “OH HOH HOH HOOOOOOHHHH” of ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ starts. They both start laughing, but Sea Hawk still sings along, while doing his own movements along to the song. Eventually the song ends and they wait for the next song to read.

Mermista cracks up laughing as ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ starts playing again. “She salt and pepper diner’d you!” she says in between laughs. Sea Hawk starts laughing harder, as ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ continues to play in the background. Eventually he calms down enough to check the last 2 tracks, which both of which are still ‘Cotton Eye Joe’.

Mermista shakes her head as he starts digging through his backpack after ejecting the CD. Eventually he manages to grab a second CD. “This one says Epic Jamz Vol 2,” Sea Hawk says as he inserts it.

“I take it that it’s spelled with a ‘z’,” Mermista deadpans as the cd loads. Then the ‘Hamster Dance’ starts. “Nope,” Mermista says, clicking the skip button, causing ‘Firework’ to start playing. Mermista shrugs and moves her hand back to the wheel. 

So Sea Hawk starts singing along. By the time he’s reached the chorus, Mermista is groaning and muttering about how she should’ve skipped this one too, but she doesn’t make a move to change it.

Then the next song starts.

Mermista groans at the sound. “Does every one of your CDs have Cotton Eye Joe on it?” she asks as she presses skip. Sea Hawk shrugs in response as they wait for the next song to start. Then ‘Veggie Tales (Remix)’ starts. “Is this a rap remix of veggie tales?” Mermista asks.

“Oh yeaaaaaahhhhh,” Sea Hawk says as realization dawns on him. “This CD was from when I was working at a camp.”

“That’s great,” Mermista says, pressing eject for him. “Let’s never listen to this one again.”

“Ok,” Sea Hawk says as he starts digging, “This next one is simply called, ‘Booty’.”

“I have high hopes,” Mermista says with an eye roll. They wait a few seconds until ‘Fat Bottom Girls’ starts playing. “Well 1 out of 3 ain’t bad,” she says with a shrug.

“Looks like it’s the only track though,” Sea Hawk says with a glance at the cd player.

“Well, you better get to digging,” Mermista says, before she starts singing along. 

By the time the song is done, Sea Hawk manages to pull out 3 more CDs. The first one just says ‘Feet’, and only has instrumentals of the songs from Footloose on it (“Honestly this is kind of a let down” Mermista tells him as he ejects it). The second one is called ‘Glimmer’s Epic B-day Party’ and is filled with a surprising amount of classic Disney Channel Bops. They listen to that one all the way through, and Sea Hawk decides that he needs to tell Angella that she makes a mean mixtape.

But the last one is the best of the three. All it says on it is ‘Dogs’. Sea Hawk vaguely remembers being given it by Adora, but has no memory of what’s actually on it. The 1st of the 2 tracks is just ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’, but the 2nd track seems to be the weirdest remix ever of ‘Who Let The Dogs Out’. There’s an odd syntho beat, a Pitbull rap and-

“Are those fucking church bells?” Mermista asks wiping away tears from laughing so hard she’s crying.

“Yes,” Sea Hawk replies in between his own laughter.

Mermista shakes her head as she pulls off the highway. “I’m hungry,” she says. “And I refuse to listen to another one of your cds.”

\---

After they eat, Mermista grabs her phone and plugs it into the aux, with her driving playlist already queued up. And they chill with that playing for a while, but eventually she groans. 

“I’m sick of this playlist, can you please change it?” she asks him.

“Of course,” Sea Hawk says, signing into her phone and scrolling through her playlists. Most of them aren’t right for right now, but he finds one he thinks will work. He’s about to click on it when he sees it. The motherload. His white whale. A playlist called ‘Sea Hawk can never see this’. “Ohh what’s this playlist?” he says almost unconsciously.

“What playlist?” Mermista asks him glancing over. He doesn’t respond as he scrolls through it.  
It starts off innocently enough:

‘Do I wanna know?’  
‘Would that I’  
‘Like real people do’  
‘Perfect Places’  
‘Anna sun’

All songs that he knows she listens to. But then he stops recognizing the songs, or if he does recognize them he’s surprised by them. 

‘Still into you’  
‘Yoko Ono’  
‘Uno’  
‘Dontmakemefallinlovewithyou’  
‘Are you bored yet?’  
‘Bad at love’  
‘Holy Roller’

And then he sees one he definitely recognizes, ‘Clean me up’. A song he has definitely played on repeat after they’ve hooked up. A song he’s played many many nights after she’s left. A song he’s played when they’re off but it looks like they’re heading back towards on. So he clicks on the song above it. 

It only takes about 5 seconds for Mermista to recognize the song. He sees her eyes get wide. “Turn. It. Off.” she says deadly serious. Sea Hawk decides to do the opposite and turn the sound up. 

Mermista sticks a hand out and tries to yank the aux out. It takes a few attempts but she’s eventually successful, but Sea Hawk has a good enough grip on the phone that it stays in his hand. With the volume still all the way up from her shower back at the house that morning.

So her phone blares out: ‘So you’re like my best friend, yeah, except for the sex. And Goddamn, such an angel waking up in my bed’

He hears Mermista mutter something that sounds like “So this is how I die, of embarrassment”.

And because Sea Hawk can’t control himself he says what he’s thinking, which just happens to be, “Why, Mermista, I’m flattered you think so highly of me.”

She glances back over him, “Sea Hawk, please.” He moves closer to the far right window, trying to memorize every song on the playlist knowing he’ll never see this playlist again.

Mermista seems to come to a decision as she pulls off the highway while he continues to scroll through the playlist. She whips into the first parking lot they see, pulls in and parks. Then turns to look at him and holds out her hand. “Phone. Now.”

“What’s the big deal?”

“Sea Hawk, phone now.” 

“No, I’m serious, What’s the big deal?” Mermista stays quiet so Sea Hawk keeps going. “So what? You’re into me? I knew that. That’s why we’re dating.” Mermista leans forward and finally successfully grabs her phone back. “And I would hope you enjoy having sex with me.” Mermista somehow starts glaring harder. And Sea Hawk knows he’s pushing her buttons, he knows she’s about to snap on him. But they’ve spent the past few days skirting around Mermista’s feelings. And he just wants to know where he stands. “I just wanna know why.”

“Because…” she pauses, then starts again. “Because…”

“Because what?” 

Finally she snaps. “Because it scares me how much I’m into you!” she yells. “There’s your answer.”

The music abruptly cuts out, and Mermista’s ringtone starts up. Mermista frowns at her phone before pressing decline.

“As I was saying-” Mermista starts to say before her phone starts ringing again. She groans and presses decline a second time, but before she can open her mouth the phone starts ringing again. Mermista sighs before finally pressing accept. “What do you want, Bow?”

“OH THANK GOD! Is Sea Hawk there?” 

Mermista quirks an eyebrow before drawling out, “Yesss.”

“Hi Bow” Sea Hawk calls. “What’s up?”

“There’s been an issue, I mean not really an issue issue, but a surprise. And well-” Bow pauses.

“Is everything all right?” Sea Hawk asks.

“Please tell me you didn’t manage to set your apartment on fire again, without even being there this time,” Mermista groans.

“Everything’s fine, It’s just, Mr. Fluffy-Pumpkins, well, he’s not really a he. I mean, he might still be a he, but what I mean is, well-” Bow keeps rambling.

“Your cat had kittens,” Catra says clearly into the phone, while Bow obviously tries to regain control of the phone in the background.

“MONSIEUR FLUFFY PUMPKINS HAD KITTENS!!!!” Sea Hawk yells so loudly that Mermista flinches. He gives her an apologetic look.

“I think it’s Madame Fluffy-Pumpkins now,” Mermista mutters.

The scuffle for the phone on the other line increases and they hear Adora and Glimmer get involved. The muffled yelling gets louder, until Sea Hawk hears the phone drop to the floor.

“Hello?” Sea Hawk asks. After a moment the phone gets picked up off the ground and Sea Hawk hears someone trying to catch their breath by the phone.

“Sorry, Adora had to grab Catra, and Bow got overwhelmed thinking about the kittens again so I have the phone now,” Glimmer explains. “Anyway, yes Fluffy Pumpkins had kittens, we attempted to contact you on your phone about it.”

“I left my phone charger in Salineas, so my phone died.” 

Glimmer makes a noise acknowledging him before continuing.

“Fluffy Pumpkins and the kittens all seem to be doing well. Catra called the shelter to get advice because none of us have much experience with cats giving birth-”

“How badly did Bow freak out?” Mermista interrupts.

Glimmer sighs. “I was at dinner with my parents and Aunt Casta. I had 40 text messages and 15 missed calls from him by the time I managed to excuse myself to the bathroom. And then he called Adora when I wouldn’t pick up, so I had another 15 messages from her and like 3 phone calls. Thankfully around the time I called Bow back, Catra got home from work so she calmed Adora down and they came over to help.” Glimmer pauses, almost as if she’s checking to see if any of the others are in earshot. “So about the expected level.” 

Mermista silently chuckles at that, before asking another question. “Have you guys been staying there?”

“Yeah, we’ve just been sleeping on the floor,” Glimmer says. “We’ve been taking shifts staying here keeping an eye on the kittens, but Bow decided a best friend squad sleepover was in order for the nights.” Glimmer pauses. “When are you planning on getting back?”

“We’re on our way back now, so we should be back tomorrow afternoon,” Mermista says.

“I can’t wait to meet the kittens!” Sea Hawk adds.

“Oh one last thing, Fluffy Pumpkins gave birth in the bathtub, and it seems to be the place she’s most comfortable, and she hisses us if we attempt to move her so you won’t be able to shower at your place,” Glimmer rushes out so fast that Sea Hawk barely processes what she’s saying until well after she’s done. “Anyway, drive safe, see you tomorrow,” she adds before hanging up.

They sit there for a minute not speaking after the line goes dead. “Good thing you showered last night.” Mermista adds after a little bit.

Sea Hawk sits there for a little longer before he finally says what he’s thinking. “We should continue the conversation we were having.” 

Mermista groans at the prospect. “Do we have to?” Sea Hawk looks over at her, and he can tell that his expression gets across to her. “I just. Can I figure out what I want to actually say first?”

Sea Hawk looks forward to try and keep Mermista from seeing the look in his eyes. “Sure, just figure it out before we stop for the night. We need to finish this conversation today.” They sit there for another minute. “You should probably take over controlling the music. Do you want me to drive?” Mermista nods, so Sea Hawk unbuckles and gets out of the car. 

She’s still getting out of the van when he gets around to the driver’s seat. He stands there waiting for her to get out, and holds out his arms to let her know he’s not actually mad, but just a little frustrated. She ends up going in for the hug and so Sea Hawk lets himself hug her for a moment. “You know I love you, right?” Mermista doesn’t say anything, but he swears he feels her nod her head just slightly. Which is good enough for him.

They’re a lot quieter when they get back in the car.

\---

Eventually they start talking, and Mermista plays some good music, and they stop for dinner and it's all fine. But the tension never fully goes away. So when Mermista tells him to pull over around 11ish, he does. They both get ready for bed in silence. Sea Hawk finishes before Mermista and gets comfy on his side of the bed. After a few minutes he feels the mattress dip and starts to roll over when he feels Mermista’s hand press flat against his back. 

“If we’re gonna have this conversation, I need to not look at your face. Ok?”

“Ok.”

Mermista lets out a sigh, and seems like she’s quietly hyping herself up. “This is taking a lot for me to say, so please don’t say anything until the end, ok?” Mermista pauses, so Sea Hawk nods. “Ok, so, we’ve been together for a while. And we’ve spent a lot of that off and on. And I know that was mainly me calling it off and back on. And I know I should feel bad about that, but I don’t because I was doing what I needed to do at that point.” She says, before pausing to take a breath.

“But I want you here with me. I want you in Salineas with me after graduation. And not hearing that as your immediate answer when I asked about the future scared me. Because I don’t know if what I want out of this is what you want out of this. And-” she pauses and takes a breath. “And that’s hard. But I know I’m not the most,” she pauses again, this time seemingly to think of the correct word, “forthcoming with my thoughts. So, this is me asking, what do you want?”

“Mermista, I’m willing to be here no matter how you want me to be, whether you want me to be just a friend, or if you want to be friends with benefits, or if you want to open our relationship, or if you want to keep it like it is.” 

“But what do you want?”

“I want you to be happy. I want you to be comfortable. I want to stay your friend no matter what happens. But I want to stay together.”

“I want that too. I just-” Mermista pauses. “I just don't want to be the thing holding you back from what you want. I don’t want you to feel like you have to follow me where I want to go.”

“And what if I want to be in Salineas?”

“Do you? Or are you just saying that?”

Sea Hawk rolls over and grips Mermista’s shoulders so she understands how serious he is right now. “I don’t think I’d already be looking at job openings there if I was just saying that.” 

“But-”

“I love Salineas, I love being by the beach, I love the area. But mainly, I love you, Mermista. And I know the future and graduation are both too close and very far away, but I’d love to be in your future if you want me there.” Sea Hawk lifts his hand to wipe a tear that’s fallen from her eye without a word.

“You’re such a sap,” Mermista tells him, before leaning in and kissing him. “But I’d like you to be in my future too. I guess.”

“I’m glad,” Sea Hawk says, before leaning in to capture her lips. They kiss for a few minutes before Sea Hawk suddenly pulls away.

“I just realized that we never stopped to buy a phone charger,” Sea Hawk says. 

Mermista rolls her eyes at him. “We’ll deal with it tomorrow. Now come back here,” She says before grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him back to her.

\---

Sea Hawk can tell when he wakes up that it’s much later than he was planning on getting up, but between his dead phone and the conversation last night, he realizes that they never set an alarm at all. But the nice thing about this road trip is they don’t have a pressing reason to get back as soon as possible. So it isn’t horrible that they slept in. He rolls over to look at Mermista when he decides he has a genius way to try and wake her up. So he leans over and kisses her cheek. And then her other cheek. And then her nose. And then her forehead. Repeating until-

“Ughhhhh,” Mermista groans, moving to shove her face against his chest. “That’s so annoying.”

“Good morning, dearest,” he tells her, kissing the top of her head.

Mermista groans into his chest again. Sea Hawk starts to stand up, when Mermista wraps her arms around him. 

“Just,” she pauses, “Lay here a little longer with me.” Sea Hawk smiles and nods, very willing to oblige her.

\---

Three weeks after the road trip Sea Hawk decides to invite the entire friend group over to officially meet the kittens. Bow, Glimmer, Adora and Catra of course all helped take care of them immediately after the birth, but they haven’t been back since to see them. And as often as he sends everyone snaps of the kittens mewling and toddling around, it’s not the same as seeing them in person.

Which is how he ends up with Scorpia, Perfuma, Bow, Glimmer, Adora, Catra and Mermista all shoved in his tiny living room. Thankfully, Madame Fluffy-Pumpkins is used to everyone being around so often that she doesn’t seem to care about them being around her kittens, which is good since all of them seem interested in eventually adopting the kittens.

Bow has turned into a puddle of mush on the ground overwhelmed by the cuteness of all the kittens, while Glimmer plays with a kitten they’ve decided to name Luna.

Sea Hawk can’t even tell if Perfuma is fawning over the kittens or over Scorpia fawning over the kittens. “We could name them Flora and Fauna,” Scorpia continues holding up the 2 kittens. One of said kittens seems to mewl in agreement to the name.

Adora, after finishing a conversation with Sea Hawk (“They don’t even really have a form,” Adora whines, “They’re just little balls of fluff and cuteness.”), is holding up a kitten and making puppy eyes at Catra. “Don’t you just love them though?”

Catra sighs. “Adora, we already have Melog.”

“Melog gets lonely while I’m at practice and you’re at work.” Adora brings out the pout. “Please. You can’t say no to little Finn.”

Mermista leans against Sea Hawk. “Well, at least you’ve already found homes for the kittens.”

“Only for 4 of the 5,” Sea Hawk replies.

Mermista shakes her head and lifts up the kitten in her hands. “No, because little Kida is coming home with me.”

“Oh is she?” Sea Hawk asks as Mermista lowers Kida back into her lap.

“Yes.” Mermista says not looking up from where little Kida is trying to climb out of her lap. “I need someone to keep me company when I move to Salineas.”

“Besides me of course.” 

“Yes,” Mermista tells him. “Besides you, I guess.” Sea Hawk leans over and kisses her on the head. He smiles at her until he feels something headbutt him. He looks down to see Madame Fluffy-Pumpkins in the process of trying to climb into his lap. Eventually she figures it out and curls up in his lap. He smiles as he looks up to see Mermista still entranced by little Kida. He’s got a lot to look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is rinasong, come yell at me about she-ra


End file.
